Recreational Holidays

The Basics of How to Play Football

It is no wonder that many young athletes enjoy competing in youth football games since it is one of the most popular sports. Wanting to play youth football is one thing, while knowing how to play football is what matters. Youth football can seem overly complex unless it is introduced with a good overview. Once it is properly explained the confusion will fade to understanding. This article will explain the basics of how to play football.

Youth football games are always played on a 100 yard field. The field will have yard markers that are used to determine where the ball is placed after each down. (We’ll get to downs a little later on in our explanation of how to play football.) One each end of the field the end zones are found. If a team is on offense, their goal will be to carry the football into the end zone to score points. The defensive team tries to prevent the offensive team from scoring a goal.

Any person that is trying to learn how to play football will need to understand the issues of time periods. Youth football games are broken up into 4 fifteen minute quarters with a 12 minute break after the first two quarters have been played. This break is called “halftime.” During the quarters, the offense has forty seconds to snap the ball or a penalty will be issued. If the score is tied at the end of the fourth quarter, sudden death overtime will be played. Sudden death periods last for 15 minutes. If neither team has scored at the end of this period the game will end in a tie.

In order to understand how to play football you need know exactly what happens during the game. A football team has two different facets: the defense and the offense. When a team is playing offense, the opponents will be playing defense. The quarterback for the offensive team will either pass or hand the football to another player. The player that has possession of the football will try to score by running to the end zone of the defensive team. Then the runner is tackled, this is called a down. When a player runs out of bounds a down is also called. After accruing 4 downs, the offensive team gives up possession of the ball. Most of the time, after a 3rd down, the offensive team will elect to kick the football in order to move the opponents’ possession further away from the goal as possible. The “how to play football” strategy here centers on making it as difficult for the other team to score.

Note: When a player from the defensive team intercepts a pass or if an offensive runner fumbles the ball and the defense retrieves it, the defensive team takes immediate possession of the ball. Defense will try to run the ball in hopes of scoring.

When learning how to play football, a clear understanding of exactly how points are scored is critical. There are a few different ways that can be used to score points while playing football and they include:

Safety: This is a scoring strategy that a lot of people that are learning how to play football are unaware of since it occurs very rarely. Basically, if the team on offense is tackled in its own end zone, the defensive team will receive 2 points.

A Touchdown: When a team catches or runs the ball in the opposing team’s end zone, they will acquire 6 points.

Field Goal: When the football is successfully kicked through the goals posts in the end zone, three points are scored.

Safety: Many people that are just learning how to play football may be unaware of this strategy since it happens rather incidentally. If the offensive player is tackled while in their own end zone the defense will score two points.This is a scoring strategy many people learning how to play football are unaware of since it happens almost incidentally. Basically, if the team on offense is tackled in its own end zone, the defensive scores 2 points.